A beer that was worth the wait...

This one weighs in at 11.5% abv, but you would never know it. I cellared this for 5 long years, resisting the urge to pull it out of the cellar at least a few times. I had this on my daughter's first birthday. It pours a murky, unfiltered brown color and has a peaty oak aroma. You know this beer is different on the first sip. I has an viscous mouthfeel and a sweet, but not quite cloying maltyness. The wide range of flavors include raisin, oak, rum, honey, chocolate mousse, fig, caramel...the list goes on and on. Immediate warming on the back of the throat. This is a beer to be taken seriously. Some very mild citrusy hop flavors sneak through, but this one is really all malt. Wow, this beer is really delicious. The dark fruit flavors are amazing and it goes down so smoothly with virtually no alcohol esters at all. I am so glad I let this one sit for a while. I have to say that I am a huge fan of Lagavulin Whisky and this beer may not be for everybody. I am about halfway through at this point and the peat and caramel flavors are still dominant. This is one of the best beers I have tasted in a long, long time. Dare I say this beer is worthy of the celebration that I saved it for.

One of the best beers in the world...

Weihenstephan Hefe-weissbier
This is certainly one of the best beers in the world. It weighs in at a super sessionable 5.4% abv. This beer is gorgeous. It pours orangish yellow with a marshmallow head that takes forever to dissipate down to about one inch. It smells amazing--dominant cloves with a sweet lemony aroma with touches of coriander and banana. This beer is the standard for all hefe-weizens. It is incredibly smooth and thirst quenching...each sip invites another. Cloves, lemon, black pepper, and doughy wheat bread flavors. The smooth mouthfeel and slight hop and spice bite at the end are a great combination. Slightly dryish lemon and wheat cracker finish. I could drink one of these every day. I am so glad that I added it to my Beer Necessities in 2011. Ein, Zwei, Drei, G'Suffa!

There is no place like home...

A brewery in my hometown...and it will specialize in Belgian beers. This is great news. Good luck to the folks at Mystic Brewery. I look forward to the first batch.

http://www.chelsearecord.com/2011/03/03/new-brewery-on-its-way-to-chelsea/

In the news recently...

I have gotten some good press lately:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wellesley/news/x868514818/Wellesley-College-offers-crash-course-in-proper-beer-drinking

http://www.wellesleynewsonline.com/features/wellesley-beer-guru-hosts-the-epicurean-class-of-a-lifetime-1.1977035

Another great beer from the folks at Otter Creek...

6% abv. It comes in at 60 IBUs. Pours pretty dark black with a massive cream colored head. Piney and grapefruit hops on the nose with touches of sweet roasted malt. Good lace. Surprising hop bite with rich coffee flavors on first sip. Slick mouthfeel with solid carbonation. Again on the second sip grapefruit and then espresso roasted flavors kicks in right after. Some licorice flavors as well. I think what I like most about this beer is that both the sweet and bitter flavors have an earthy rawness about them. It has a fresh, raw hop flavor that I really like. Some very mild spicy burn on the back of the throat that has more to do with the hop acidity than the alcohol content. Certainly reminiscent of a west coast stout or porter with heavy hopping. A very flavorful session beer. I got it in their winter variety 12 pack and I sure hope I find it in six packs. Another great beer from the folks at Otter Creek.

Fire in the Belly...

I was very excited last night to crack open a bottle I had been cellaring for about 10 months, Great Divide Brewing Company Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Or GDBCCOAYIS as I like to call it. It measure in at 9.5% abv. and pours oil black with a dark tan head. The tiramisu aroma is tantalizing. Dark chocolate morsels, mocha, bourbon oak, vanilla, and spicy alcohol on the nose as well. Good lace. I probably could have cellared this for a few more months to mellow it even more, since the alcohol is a bit more obvioius than I expected. It has a rich espresso flavor at finish. Very interesting cayenne spicyness on the back of the throat...I wonder if they added some kind of pepper. This beer smells amazing. Oak dryness is more pronounced at finish. Hop tingle develops halfway through the first glass. Hop spicyness and pepper combine for a really interesting complexity. Tingle on the front sides of the tongue. I love spicy, so I love this beer. However I can see how some people could be a bit distracted by what has to be cayenne...ok, did some research, it turns out it is cayenne pepper. Tastes like a Mexican spiced chocolate. Certainly a bit out of the ordinary, but I like it a lot.

Has Magic Hat lost its Magic...

I picked up a Magic Hat Spring Fever 12 pack the other day. It included the standard #9 and Circus Boy, as well as two new ones for me, Vinyl Lager and Demo IPA. My first thought was what happened to the days of Thumbsucker Russian Imperial Stout...that was Magic Hat at its pinnacle. Lately it seems that Magic Hat is either trying too hard or perhaps not enough. I am really not sure which it is. I keep thinking back to Wacko, the ale with beet juice added. Do I need to say more, beet juice to make it pinkish, are you kidding me. Anyway, here are my...yawn...reviews of these two new ones.

Vinyl Lager
Pours a dark amber color with a 1/2 inch thick head. Wheat cracker and mild lemon scent. Crisp lemony hop bite on the sides of the mouth. Toasted caramel malt. Medium bodied with a decent drinkability. Dry and clean at finish. Decent lace. This is a pretty good lager, but nothing special.


















Demo IPA
6% abv. Pours a surprising dark brown. Cascade hop aroma. Interesting balance at times of sweet roasted malt and citrusy hop. Really more of a pale ale or ESB hop profile with a little extra kick. Certainly drinkable. Decent lace. Some chocolate malt flavors at finish. An ok beer.




To quote Grey over at Razzball, these beers are quite "yawnstipating."